Figure It - Island Talks

Figure It – Episode 19: Cypriots are more pro-solution than you think (6/5/2025)

Cypriots are far more in favour of a federal solution of the Cyprus problem than we might think: yes, even when you get quite specific with the questions. In this episode Sapienta Economics Director, Fiona Mullen, talks to University of Cyprus Professor of Social Development and Psychology, Charis Psaltis, about the survey methodology and why attitudes towards a bizonal bicommunal federation are becoming more positive. You can find the conjoint survey paper mentioned in the podcast here. You can find Charis’ new Substack newsletter on surveys here. And you can find the full Infogram in the episode image here.

Figure It – Episode 18: US tariffs might hurt Cyprus in unexpected ways (25/4/2025)

In this episode of Figure It, economic historian Dr Alexander Apostolides of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance talks to Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen about how US tariffs could affect Cyprus in ways that policymakers might not be expecting. He also gives some advice on what policymakers could be doing to ensure resilience in these uncertain times.

Figure It – Episode 17: Opening up Cyprob imaginations with an interspecies council (18/2/2025)

In this episode Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Prof Amanda Perry-Kessaris of Law at Kent Law School to discuss a workshop last November with the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre (CPDC). Funded by the Socio-Legal Studies Association the workshop ran a small test on two concepts: citizens’ assemblies and interspecies councils.

Figure It – Episode 16: Scenarios for the future of Cyprus (4/11/2024)

In this episode Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to process facilitator and peacebuilding practitioner Michelle Parlevliet of REOS Partners about the transforming effects of asking a broad cross-section of Cypriots with differing views to take the time to imagine four plausible but very different scenarios for the future of Cyprus. The Cyprus Futures project was the subject of a panel discussion led my Ms Parlevliet at the Cyprus Forum on 4 October.

Figure It – Episode 15: from research to market with Cyprus Seeds (16/10/2024)

Cyprus is more innovative than you think. In this episode Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Cyprus Seeds Managing Director Maria Georgiadou, and Innovation Programme Manager Margarita Kyprianou about the wide sectoral range of innovators in universities, research institutions, and Centres of Excellence in the Republic of Cyprus who have been supported by Cyprus Seeds in bringing their research to market. Support includes small grants, mentoring, hands-on training, and networking opportunities to help academic teams commercialize their research by creating startups or licensing their technology. The most prominent success to date involves a gene therapy innovation that is awaiting much sought-after approval from the…

Figure It – Episode 14: How big is the population of northern Cyprus? (6/9/2024)

In this 14th episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Mete Hatay, Senior Research Consultant at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, about the delicate question of the number of people who live in northern Cyprus. There has been no census since 2011, when the population (de jure) was counted as 286,257. The population has definitely grown a lot since then. But is it now 380,000, 550,000, 1 million or even 6 million? In 30 minutes Mete gives good reasons for citing one of those figures, and also explains why it is such a…

Figure It – Episode 13: Things you didn’t know about UNFICYP (7/3/2024)

In this 13th episode of Figure It  Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to James Ker-Lindsay, Visiting Professor at the University of Kent, Research Associate at LSE and producer of the popular conflict/international relations YouTube channel called “Prof James Ker-Lindsay”, to discuss some little known facts about UNFICYP - the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus that commemorated its 60th anniversary on 3 March. Prof Ker-Lindsay started his career researching how UNFICYP came into being and explains how it nearly didn’t happen.

Figure It – Episode 12 (Energy Series 3) What does ENI’s latest gas discovery offshore Cyprus actually mean? (22/2/2024)

In this 12th episode of Figure It and the third in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Peter Stevenson, East Mediterranean Editor at the specialist oil and gas publication, Middle East Economic Survey (MEES). They discuss the announcement made on 15 February by the Italian oil and gas company, ENI, about its natural gas discovery in the Cronos reserve of the Republic of Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). What did the rather technical announcement mean? And can we expect natural gas to be exported from there by late 2026 or early 2027, as…

Figure It – Episode 11 (Energy Series 2): East Med Energy and the Cyprus problem: why it is in the EU’s strategic security interests to get involved (8/2/2024)

Read more about the article Figure It – Episode 11 (Energy Series 2): East Med Energy and the Cyprus problem: why it is in the EU’s strategic security interests to get involved (8/2/2024)

In this 11th episode of Figure It and the second in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Ahmet Sözen, a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) and a veritable ‘ideas factory’ when it comes to new approaches to the Cyprus problem. Prof Sözen is also part of the Eastern Mediterranean Initiative of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and has recently produced papers with Diplomeds on Eastern Mediterranean energy issues. In this episode we discuss the proposals put forward in these papers, such “engagement without recognition”…

Figure It – Episode 10 (Energy Series 1): What happened at the government’s regional energy gathering on 29-30 May? (5/6/2023)

In this episode of Figure It and the first in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen and analyst Andromachi Sophocleous put on their professional energy hats to analyse the regional energy workshop of oil and gas companies on 29-30 May.